Deck design — don't ship boring slides
Full doc: skills/deck-design/references/FULL_SKILL.md. Mechanics:
pptx.find_template (start from one of 193 professional templates),
pptx.create, the unpack/set_text/check_overlaps/pack workflow, and
pptx.render_slides for QA. Color accessibility: media.color-check.
Before starting
- Bold, content-informed palette. It should feel designed for THIS topic —
if swapping the colors into an unrelated deck would still "work," they aren't
specific enough. Don't default to generic blue.
- Dominance over equality. One color carries 60–70% of the visual weight,
1–2 supporting tones, one sharp accent. Never weight all colors equally.
- Dark/light sandwich. Dark title + conclusion, light content — or commit
to dark throughout for a premium feel.
- One repeated motif (rounded image frames, icons in colored circles, a
thick single-side border) carried across every slide.
Every slide
- Needs a visual element — image, chart, icon, or shape. Text-only slides
are forgettable.
- Vary layouts: two-column, icon+text rows, 2×2/2×3 grids, half-bleed image
with overlay, big-stat callouts, comparison columns, timelines. Never repeat
the same text-heavy layout every slide.
- Left-align body; center only titles. Size contrast: titles 36pt+ vs body
14–16pt.
Type
Pick a header font with personality + a clean body font (Georgia/Calibri,
Cambria/Calibri, Arial Black/Arial…) — don't default to Arial for both.
Title 36–44 bold · section header 20–24 bold · body 14–16 · caption 10–12 muted.
Never (AI-slide tells)
- Accent line under a title (the #1 AI-generated tell — use whitespace or a
background block instead).
- Low-contrast text/icons (verify pairs with
media.color-check).
- Centered paragraphs; random inconsistent gaps; one styled slide among plain
ones; leftover
xxxx/lorem placeholder text.
QA loop (required — assume there are problems)
- Render with
pptx.render_slides (or pptx.thumbnail for an overview).
- Read the images back with vision and hunt: overlaps, text overflow/
clipping, decorative lines under wrapped titles, footers colliding with
content, gaps <0.3", margins <0.5", misaligned columns, low contrast,
leftover placeholders. Also run
pptx.check_overlaps for geometric issues.
- Fix, then re-verify the affected slides — one fix often creates another.
- Grep the extracted text for
xxxx|lorem|ipsum before declaring done.
Do not declare success until at least one fix-and-verify cycle has run.
1---2name: deck-design3description: Visual design doctrine for slide decks — bold content-informed palettes, type pairing, varied layouts, and the assume-there-are-problems QA loop. Condensed from grok's pptx design guidance; pairs with the pptx.* tools. Full doc in references/.4---56# Deck design — don't ship boring slides78Full doc: `skills/deck-design/references/FULL_SKILL.md`. Mechanics:9`pptx.find_template` (start from one of 193 professional templates),10`pptx.create`, the unpack/set_text/check_overlaps/pack workflow, and11`pptx.render_slides` for QA. Color accessibility: `media.color-check`.1213## Before starting1415- **Bold, content-informed palette.** It should feel designed for THIS topic —16 if swapping the colors into an unrelated deck would still "work," they aren't17 specific enough. Don't default to generic blue.18- **Dominance over equality.** One color carries 60–70% of the visual weight,19 1–2 supporting tones, one sharp accent. Never weight all colors equally.20- **Dark/light sandwich.** Dark title + conclusion, light content — or commit21 to dark throughout for a premium feel.22- **One repeated motif** (rounded image frames, icons in colored circles, a23 thick single-side border) carried across every slide.2425## Every slide2627- **Needs a visual element** — image, chart, icon, or shape. Text-only slides28 are forgettable.29- **Vary layouts**: two-column, icon+text rows, 2×2/2×3 grids, half-bleed image30 with overlay, big-stat callouts, comparison columns, timelines. Never repeat31 the same text-heavy layout every slide.32- **Left-align body**; center only titles. Size contrast: titles 36pt+ vs body33 14–16pt.3435## Type3637Pick a header font with personality + a clean body font (Georgia/Calibri,38Cambria/Calibri, Arial Black/Arial…) — don't default to Arial for both.39Title 36–44 bold · section header 20–24 bold · body 14–16 · caption 10–12 muted.4041## Never (AI-slide tells)4243- Accent line under a title (the #1 AI-generated tell — use whitespace or a44 background block instead).45- Low-contrast text/icons (verify pairs with `media.color-check`).46- Centered paragraphs; random inconsistent gaps; one styled slide among plain47 ones; leftover `xxxx`/lorem placeholder text.4849## QA loop (required — assume there are problems)50511. Render with `pptx.render_slides` (or `pptx.thumbnail` for an overview).522. **Read the images back with vision** and hunt: overlaps, text overflow/53 clipping, decorative lines under wrapped titles, footers colliding with54 content, gaps <0.3", margins <0.5", misaligned columns, low contrast,55 leftover placeholders. Also run `pptx.check_overlaps` for geometric issues.563. Fix, then **re-verify the affected slides** — one fix often creates another.574. Grep the extracted text for `xxxx|lorem|ipsum` before declaring done.5859Do not declare success until at least one fix-and-verify cycle has run.
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